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brooked no denial ; but he considerately pulled up before 

 there was any need to follow. Come back he would not; 

 in fact, he had no desire or intention to discuss the matter 

 at close quarters. But fate and the tackle proved too 

 strong for him at the end, and when he eventually received 

 his quietus, and was foiind to scale 151b., we unanimously 

 declared he was a beauty. The Avon pike are all long and 

 slender fish, and that fifteen-pounder looked quite 201b. 

 when seen in the water. He was the best fish of the day on 

 our length of the river, but a friend who was fishing below 

 us killed an equally good one that same afternoon. In very 

 severe weather live-baiting succeeds much better than 

 spinning on this river ; but some of the riparian proprietors 

 object to the use of live bait. It seems a great shame, how- 

 ever, that such a grand trout and grayling stream should 

 bo sacrificed by the preservation of pike. But the river is 

 in private hands along the length herein referred to, and 

 combined action amongst the owners appears to be im- 

 possible. Whilst we deplore the desecration of so charming 

 a water, by leaving it to swarm with the " water wolf," we 

 would not wish to fish for him amidst more delightful sur- 

 roundings. Perhaps a trifle less than fifteen degrees of 

 irost would be an improvement upon our last Christmas eve 

 experiences, but that is quite a matter of taste. 



